This is what Stephanie said about planning the party- “This year, I decided to throw a joint birthday party for my kids, Isabella (7) & Tristan (4). Being in the wedding industry myself, I tackled the party with lots of DIY projects. My husband and I built our own ticket and food booths from picket fencing. These turned out so cute and made such an impact on the party. I made signs for all of the booths and games with my Silhouette Cameo. When our guests walked in, they were greeted at the Ticket Booth and were given tickets for all of the activities and food.

The piece of resistance of the party was the sweet bar that we did. We saw a photo of a table top canopy and used it as an inspiration to build our own. With red/white stripe fabric as a backdrop, we covered the table with all kinds of candy and desserts. Debbie LaRue of Debbie’s Delights made the birthday cakes for the kids. For Isabella, her cake had an ice cream cone theme and for Tristan, Debbie made him a popcorn theme cake. My cousin and I made cupcakes covered in caramel popcorn and mini ice cream cone cake balls to carry out the theme of the cakes. I used glass vases, dresser drawers, old crates and metal accessories to house all of the goodies. Kerry’s KupKakes & Kookies provided the adorable 3-D Carnival cupcakes and not only were they beautiful, they were absolutely delicious. For additional color, I made some fabric bunting banners to embellish the skirting of the sweet table.

For food, we served the guests popcorn, hot dogs & nachos, sno-cones, cotton candy, peanuts, lemonade and real carnival food. My husband’s co-workers came out and made crawfish pistolettes, funnel cake, fried oreos and boudain balls for the carnival goers. As mentioned earlier, we made the food booths with picket fencing and painted them to create red/white stripes. I draped some plastic red/white striped table covers over metal frames to complete the carnival booths.

We offered plenty of games and activities for the kids (and adults). These included: Balloon Darts, Tic-Tac-Toe Toss, Ping Pong Glass Toss, Ring Toss, Duck Pond, Face Painting, Balloon Twisting, Bounce House and the most popular activity, a trackless train that drove everyone around our neighborhood. We found an old Coke Cola cart during one of our flea market trips and drank a case of Coke bottles for the Ring Toss. My cousin who is going to art school volunteered to be our artist for the Face Painting booth and the kids absolutely loved him. Another cousin twisted hundreds of balloons that day and probably became an expert by the end of the day.

One of the most memorable things from the party was Chloe the Clown. My kids’ aunt came to the party in full clown attire and the kids loved her funny antics.

Before the kids left, they traded their winning tickets for various prizes that were displayed on our Prize Booth. This was a big hit for the kids. By the end of the party, we only had a handful of prizes left on the table.

So much work and many long hours went into planing and executing this party for my kids but it was so worth it. My daughter told me this was her favorite party and wished she could relive that day again. Knowing that they enjoyed every moment of it made all the hard work worth it.”